William Lowndes Yancey and the Coming of the Civil War (Civil War America)

In the first comprehensive biography of William Lowndes Yancey (1814-63), one of the leading secessionists of the Old South, Eric H. Walther examines the personality and political life of the uncompromising fire-eater. Born in Georgia but raised in the North by a fiercely abolitionist stepfather and an emotionally unstable mother, Yancey grew up believing that abolitionists were cruel, meddling, and hypocritical. His personal journey led him through a series of mentors who transformed his political views, and upon moving to frontier Alabama in his twenties, Yancey's penchant for rhetorical and physical violence was soon channeled into a crusade to protect slaveholders' rights. Yancey defied Northern Democrats at their national nominating convention in 1860, rending the party and setting the stage for secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln. Selected to introduce Jefferson Davis in Montgomery as the president-elect of the Confederacy, Yancey also served the Confederacy as a diplomat and a senator before his death in 1863, just short of his forty-ninth birthday. More than a portrait of an influential political figure before and during the Civil War, this study also presents a nuanced look at the roots of Southern honor, violence, and understandings of manhood as they developed in the nineteenth century. "In the first comprehensive biography of William Lowndes Yancey (1814-63), one of the leading secessionists of the Old South, Eric H. Walther examines the personality and political life of the uncompromising fire-eater." "Born in Georgia but raised in the North by a fiercely abolitionist stepfather and an emotionally unstable mother, Yancey grew up believing that abolitionists were cruel, meddling, and hypocritical. His personal journey led him through a series of mentors who transformed his political views, and he began his public life under the tutelage of South Carolina Unionist Benjamin F. Perry. After acquiring slaves of his own and moving to frontier Alabama in his twenties, however, Yancey experienced an about-face, and his penchant for inflammatory oratory and physical violence was soon channeled into a crusade to protect slaveholders' fights." "By the 1850s Yancey was a key leader in the movement for disunion, proclaiming himself the defender and embodiment of the South. He defied Northern Democrats at their national nominating convention in 1860, rending the party and setting the stage for secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln. Selected to introduce Jefferson Davis in Montgomery as the president-elect of the Confederacy, Yancey went on to serve as the Confederacy's first diplomatic commissioner to England and France and then as a senator from Alabama before his death in 1863, just short of his forty-ninth birthday." "More than a portrait of an influential political figure before and during the Civil War, this study also presents a nuanced look at the roots of Southern honor, violence, and understandings of manhood as they developed in the nineteenth century."--BOOK JACKET IWilliam Lowndes Yancey (1814-63) was one of the leading secessionists of the Old South. In this first comprehensive biography, Eric H. Walther examines the personality and political life of the uncompromising fire-eater. Born in Georgia but raised in the North by a fiercely abolitionist stepfather and an emotionally unstable mother, Yancey grew up believing that abolitionists were cruel, meddling, and hypocritical. His personal journey led him through a series of mentors who transformed his political views, and upon moving to frontier Alabama in his twenties, Yancey's penchant for rhetorical and physical violence was soon channeled into a crusade to protect slaveholders' rights. Yancey defied Northern Democrats at their national nominating convention in 1860, rending the party and setting the stage for secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln. Selected to introduce Jefferson Davis in Montgomery as the president-elect of the Confederacy, Yancey also served the Confederacy as a diplomat and a senator before his death in 1863, just short of his forty-ninth birthday. More than a portrait of an influential political figure before and during the Civil War, this study also presents a nuanced look at the roots of Southern honor, violence, and understandings of manhood as they developed in the nineteenth century. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 16 ONE: Jordan’s Stormy Banks......Page 19 TWO: Rebellion and Union......Page 33 THREE: Flush Times and Bad Times in Alabama and South Carolina......Page 53 FOUR: Politician......Page 71 FIVE: Party and Honor......Page 89 SIX: The Alabama Platform......Page 107 SEVEN: Secessionist......Page 128 EIGHT: Creating the ‘‘Leaven of Disunion’’......Page 143 NINE: Public Man, Private Life......Page 160 TEN: Yancey and the House Divided......Page 194 ELEVEN: Walker and Walker, the League and the Letter......Page 218 TWELVE: The Conventions of 1860......Page 244 THIRTEEN: The Voice of the South......Page 268 FOURTEEN: The Men and the Hours......Page 289 FIFTEEN: In King Arthur’s Court......Page 311 SIXTEEN: Journeys Home......Page 337 SEVENTEEN: The Main Pillar of the Confederacy......Page 357 Legacy......Page 384 Notes......Page 392 Bibliography......Page 450 A......Page 476 B......Page 477 C......Page 478 D......Page 479 E......Page 480 G......Page 481 J......Page 482 L......Page 483 M......Page 484 P......Page 485 S......Page 486 V......Page 488 W......Page 489 Y......Page 490 A section of illustrations......Page 183

In the first comprehensive biography of William Lowndes Yancey (1814-63), one of the leading secessionists of the Old South, Eric H. Walther examines the personality and political life of the uncompromising fire-eater and presents a nuanced look at the roots of Southern honor, violence, and understandings of manhood as they developed in the nineteenth century.